What do you like to read?Historical fiction is one of my passions, I really enjoy it, same with crime fiction (enjoy Henning Mankell, Patricia Cornwell, Tess Gerritsen and PD James), science fiction (fan of Asimov's robot novels), 'classics' (no particular favourite, although I dislike Austen & Bronte), poetry (don't have a favourite as such, but I like humour poems, World War poems and nonsense ones) and I'm a sucker for JK Rowling and Enid Blyton... :p

My all time favourite books are the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Treasure Island tops my list of favourite books and I do like anything with a nautical theme (and Clive Cusslar).

I enjoy my non-fiction too, currently mostly on Victorian sexuality for a article I'm writing, but I enjoy history (specifically World War I & II Britain, things about Bletchley Park, and Victorian history), love reading biographies (recent reads include one about Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the cyclist Marco Pantani).

PG Wodehouse is another favourite. I'm a sucker for a good ghost story too (guilty pleasure from James Herbert novels!). I also like those utopian-society-gone-wrong types (Orwell, Huxley etc...), I'm planning to start reading some current Russian literature as I'm studying the language and whilst I can't read them in Russian just yet I think it'd be a good idea to get an idea of the modern day literature coming out of Russian and former Soviet countries (current favourite is Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov [Ukraine]).

To be honest, if it's in the 3 for 2 and sounds interesting then I'll probably buy it (found some of my current favourites that way - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke and The People's Act of Love by James Meek).

What kinds of books do you avoid like a bad cliche?Romance, or anything with a romantic theme, anything that describes itself as 'chick lit' because inevitably it falls into the romance or romantic theme category, contains shallow annoying characters and a plot so thin you'd get a paper cut. I tend to avoid anything written by Ben Elton as he is a shocking excuse of a comic (and most of his writing is comedy). Anything supposedly written by a 'celebrity' (not including people like Stephen Fry and Will Self, but you know what I mean). Self help books are off the agenda,

Recently started to avoid the 'conspiracy' type of book (like the Da Vinci Code), not because I don't like the story but because I'm bored of them now. Also, those biographies that are about abused childhoods - they're depressing and often painful to read and whilst that's usually the point I often finish the book questioning whether everything I've just read is real.

How often do you read?Not as often as I'd like. My occupation (work in theatre) you would think to be a great for reading, but it's very difficult to (a) read in the dark (b) refrain from making my moth complex worse (c) keep putting the book down mid-sentence. Generally I read in the bath, on the tube or sometimes in bed if I'm not too tired. I used to read an awful lot more but once you get into real life, it sucks.... I definitely read more whilst studying, even if it was books on Electrical Wiring Regulations! (*is an electrician*).

What's in your current "To Read" pile?Er... *goes to look* (this is sort of a yearly reading list... it gets added to quite regularly and I'm listing most of it because I'm always looking for recommendation's in a similar vein to what I'm currently reading :) :)) I am currently reading 'An Orange Revolution: A Personal Journal through Ukrainian History' by Askhold Krushelnycky

History:Le Tour: History of the Tour de France by Geoffrey WheatcroftVulcan 607 by Rowland WhiteNecropolis: London and It's Dead by Catherine ArnoldSilent Night: The Remarkable Christmas Truce 1914 by Stanley WeintraubBlack Earth: Russia After the Fall by Andrew Meier

Biography:The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill BrysonConan Doyle Biography by Ronald Pearsall

Philosophy/Religion/Politics:The God Delusion by Richard DawkinsThe Prince by Niccolo MachiavelliA Brief History of Philosophy by Derek JohnstonThe Republic by PlatoThe March of Unreason by Dick TaverneWhy I am Not a Christian by Bertrand RussellThe Consolations of Philosophy by Alan de Botton * (library book)Philosophy the Basics by Nigel WarbutonThe End of Faith by Sam Harris * (library book)The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * (library book)A Beginners guide to Reality by Jim BaggotBritain Unwrapped: Government and Constitution Explained by Hilarie Barnett

Other:The Cloud Spotter's Guide by Gavin Pretor-PinneyPenguin Stopped Play by Harry ThomasNotes from a Small Island by Bill BrysonMarley and Me by John Grigon

Poetry:Inferno by Dante

Fiction:The Dice Man by Luke RhineheartMadame Bovary by Gustav FlaubertThe Princes Bride by William GoldingFinn Family Moomin Troll by Tove JanssonMr Clive and Mr Page by Neil BartlettDune by Frank HerbertNight Watch by Sarah WatersThe Algebraist by Iain M. BanksThe Idiot by F.M. DostoevskyCryptonomicon by Neal StephensonA Short History of Tractors in the Ukrainian by Marina LewyckaThe Book of Lost Things by John ConnollyThe Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem His Master's Voice by Stanislaw Lem Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut We by Yevgeny Zamyatin The Master and Margarita by Mikhail BulgakovRebecca by Daphne Du Maurier The Country Girls by Edna O'BrienThe Ghost by Robert Harris Number Ten by Sue Townsend The Public Confessions of a Middle-aged Woman (Aged 55 3/4) by Sue Townsend The Abortionist's Daughter by Elisabeth HydeThe Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney The History of Love by Nicole KraussAtonement by Ian McEwan The President's Last Love by Andrey Kurkov The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran FoerThe Book With No Name by Anonymous The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Life of Pi by Yann Martel Animal Farm: A Fairy Story by George Orwell Lord of the Flies by William Golding The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky The Gentle Axe by R.N. Morris When Guinea Pigs Fly by James Proimos, Andy Rheingold Making Money by Terry Pratchett Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell